Role of Fe, Transferrin and Transferrin Receptor in Anti-Tumor Effect of Vitamin C

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 14; no. 18; p. 4507
• Main Authors: Qiu, Jia, Wu, Renbo, Long, Yali, Peng, Lei, Yang, Tianhong, Zhang, Bing, Shi, Xinchong, Liu, Jianbo, Zhang, Xiangsong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 17.09.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Antimitotic agents; Antineoplastic agents; Apoptosis; Ascorbic acid; Caustic soda; Cell growth; Cell proliferation; Cell receptors; Colorectal cancer; Cytotoxicity; Dietary supplements; Drug dosages; Experiments; Flow cytometry; Free radicals; Health aspects; Hydrogen peroxide; Hydroxyl radicals; Iron; Iron in the body; Oxidation; Oxidative stress; Physiology; Redox properties; Testing; Transferrin; Transferrins; Tumor cells; Vitamin C; China; St Louis Missouri; United States > US; Japan; Germany
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers14184507

High-dose vitamin C (VC) exhibits anti-tumor effects, and the cytotoxicity of VC is correlated with oxidative stress. However, iron, as a redox metal, plays an important effect in redox cycling and free radical formation in cells. This study addresses the role of iron ion in the cytotoxicity of VC. We found that iron supplementation increases the anti-tumor effect of VC, which was influenced by the cellular iron uptake pathway–transferrin (TF)/transferrin receptor (TFR) system. The TFR expression of tumors can be assessed by 68Ga-citrate PET imaging, and it would be helpful to screen out the tumor type which is more sensitive to VC combined with an iron supplementation treatment.